Carroll dominates Montana Tech again

October 18, 2009

By JEFF WINDMUELLER Independent Record

Montana Tech dropped a lot of change on the field, but Carroll College's defense made sure it didn't add up to much dough.

"If they want to nickel and dime us, they can nickel and dime us," said Saints head coach Mike Van Diest. "We're going to keep them in front of us and hope that sooner or later we're going to get a turnover or stop them."

That's exactly what the second-ranked Saints (8-0, 7-0 Frontier Conference) did en route to a 23-3 victory over the rival Orediggers (4-4, 4-3) Saturday in Nelson Stadium.

For the second straight week, Carroll College stopped an opposing offense from scoring a touchdown and turned long Tech drives made up of short passes and up-the-gut runs into field goals - including one blocked - and an interception.

"It means the world (shutting down Tech)," said Saints senior defensive tackle Mason Siddick. "We talked about doing it, we came out to do it.

"Words can't explain the emotions that are running through my body."

While the defense was playing lights out, the Saints offense saddled up and road its offensive line to 377 total yards and three rushing touchdowns.

Carroll finished with 138 yards rushing as running backs Gabe Le and John Camino, as well as junior quarterback Gary Wagner, rushed into the end zone.

Wagner also had enough time to complete 21-of-31 passes for 239 yards.

The Saints used that balanced attack early and often to score on their first three drives of the game and finish the first half with a 17-3 lead.

It took just under five minutes for Carroll to put its first points on the board, driving 82 yards and converting on two third downs - the second a 12-yard pass to Stevie Sloan - to set it up for the score.

After Sloan's reception put the Saints on the 24-yard line, Camino burst through a hole on the right side of the line for 15 yards and sophomore Matt Ritter caught an 8-yard pass to put Carroll just shy of the end zone. Le punched it in from 1 yard out as the home team went up 7-0 just 4:43 into the game.

"We love those short-rushing touchdowns," senior offensive guard Alex Pfannenstiel said. "We get in the huddle and the quarterback's like 'that's on you offensive line.'

"We kind of feel like those are our touchdowns to go with the running backs. That's a point of personal pride."

The offensive line would get a couple more opportunities, but not until after Tech's lone scoring drive.

Junior quarterback and Helena High graduate Matt Komac led the charge with two third-down pass completions and a 2-yard QB keep on fourth down to push the 'Diggers into the red zone.

But, an illegal substitution penalty on third-and-3 from the goal line pushed Tech backward and the 'Diggers had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Sean Kelly.

Tech went three-and-out on its next two possessions before its final drive of the half ended with Carroll cornerback Mike Waldenberg's third field goal block of the season.

"He's got great speed and quickness and he and Thomas Dolan talk about setting it up on that side," Van Diest said. "We've blocked three or four (this season), plus there are four or five that are missed against us."

While Tech's offense hit one road block after another, Carroll kept trudging right ahead, overcoming a holding penalty with a 26-yard pass downfield to junior tight end Bubba Bartlett to set his team up on the 'Diggers 3-yard line.

Bartlett finished with four catches for 55 yards, and set Wagner up with his 3-yard touchdown run on the subsequent play.

"It was a boot play. I had the option to throw it or run it," Wagner said. "I saw the end zone, I had Luke Den Herder in front of me and I was like 'I'm just going to take this.' I followed the big guy.

"It's nice following a guy like that especially when I'm just a skinny twig."

Den Herder and Wagner rolled right and the QB went untouched into the end zone.

Wagner led the Saints' rushing the last time the two teams met, and the offensive line wanted to make sure the ground they gained wasn't because he was scrambling.

"(The run game) was a big emphasis because we didn't feel like we didn't run the ball very well in the first game and the stats proved it, Gary Wagner was our leading rusher," Pfannenstiel said. "It's not like we don't see Gary getting yards, but we'd rather see Gabe and John getting those yards."

The Saints finished with 138 yards rushing, eight more than they did in their last meeting, but controlled the game better than they had before.

"We knew whoever can run the football and whoever can stop the run is going to win the game," Van Diest said.

Le finished with a team-high 56 yards on 11 carries while Camino added 47 yards on 11 and Chance Demarais added 31 on six.

Tech, meanwhile, finished with just 72 yards as the Frontier's leading rusher, Skyler Knuchel, was held to 34 yards on 12 carries.

Camino gave the Saints their final score with 7:10 left in the third quarter, breaking tackles for a 10-yard jaunt into the end zone.

Tech drove into the Saints red zone twice more, the first ending in a Pat Regan interception in the back of the end zone, the second when Tech simply ran out of time.

Komac finished with 30 completions on 48 pass attempts for 307 yards. He also rushed for 31 more.

Coming off a 32-0 win over MSU-Northern the week before and beating Tech by a combined total of 50-10, the Saints have one more home game next week against Rocky.

"We were running pretty well, but there's always improvement to be done," Siddick said. "We're looking for that perfect game and we haven't gotten it yet."

Jeff Windmueller: 447-4065 or

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